New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the plea seeking repatriation of Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay, who was critically injured after being attacked by an Indian prisoner in a Jammu jail. The court said that repatriation cannot be allowed as the Pak prisoner has not yet completed his jail term.

A bench headed by justice RM Lodha also issued notice to the Centre and Jammu & Kashmir government seeking clarification on circumstances under which Sanaullah was attacked. The court also sought detailed information about preparedness of jail authorities in preventing such incidences.

The petition was filed by J&K Panthers Party Chief Bhim Singh, who is also a senior lawyer. The main petition filed in 2005 sought the repatriation of all Pakistani prisoners who have spent over 15 years in Indian jails.

Earlier, Sanaullah, a Pakistani militant who was convicted in 2009 for bombing a Katra-bound bus that killed 10 persons in 1994, was attacked and critically injured by a fellow prisoner in a Jammu jail.

The incident is being seen as a retaliatory act by an Indian prisoner to the fatal assault on India’s Sarabjit Singh in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail. Sarabjit succumbed to his injuries in a Lahore hospital recently.